Arrggghhhhhh - what to do?

[Daz Type-R]

As a complete newbie I have trolled loads of sites + on here looking for info. I have finaly decided on a scope.......

Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian.

(or so I thought) and have just read on here something about at 150x planets take about a minute to cross the field of view, is that correct?

I`m just concerned that every minute i will have to nudge the scope just to keep it in view!

Are dobs easy to turn, do they turn in small ammounts or is it purley free flow and you have to move it very carefully?

Also, is it possible to fix a goto unit or auto unit to this scope, as I can't seem to find one on the sites I have looked at?

Also, what is the difference between auto and goto or is it the same thing?

HELP!

[oldfruit]

Hi, an object will drift through the field of view when observed with a scope with no motor drives due to the Earths rotation. This effect is amplified with higher magnification. You can buy dobsonian scopes with motor drives now, but a lot of folks use them without and seem to get on fine.

A deciding factor on your choice of scope is your budget. Maybe you would benefit from a scope with an equatorial mount?

We all are only too aware of the mind boggling choice of kit out there.

What sort of things did you want to look at through the scope?

[Daz Type-R]

Saturn, jupiter, nebula etc in decent detail (enough to see the rings, red spot, moons etc) without it being a fuzzy blob but i`m not expecting super detail - also not fussed about photography either.

Thats why I opted for the 8 inch dob mentioned above, good all rounder.

[oldfruit]

The dob would be a good all rounder and to be honest a lot of nebula would be observed at lower magnification so they would still drift through the field of view but not so fast as when viewed at high magnification.

There is a dob users group on here and maybe they could better advise you better.

[John]

Saturn, jupiter, nebula etc in decent detail (enough to see the rings, red spot, moons etc) without it being a fuzzy blob but i`m not expecting super detail - also not fussed about photography either.

Thats why I opted for the 8 inch dob mentioned above, good all rounder.

You can see all that but observing conditions and observer experience plus other factors dictate what you can actually see on a given night, ie: you won't see all the details straight away. Like anything worthwhile it takes practice and experience to get the best out of your equipment.

The 8" Skwatcher dobsonain is the best "bang for your buck" available where potential for visual observing goes. The tracking soon comes naturally

If you get fed up with it you could always put the scope tube onto an equatorial mount later.

[Daz Type-R]

Excuse my dumbness but is an equtorial mount a "tripod"?

And if so why is that more benificial (sp?)

[oldfruit]

An eq mount is a mount on a tripod that allows you to track manually or with motors, objects as they cross the sky.

[Daz Type-R]

Are they considered more easier to track with than a dob?

[oldfruit]

The attraction of a dobsonian mounted scope is the simplicity of it, ie push and point to it, and they tend to be cheaper than an eq mounted scope.

As was mentioned in a post above, you can always mount your scope on an eq mount later if you wanted.

I personally prefer my eq mounted scope but that is just my prefference.

[danielson23uk]

Excuse my dumbness but is an equtorial mount a "tripod"?

And if so why is that more benificial (sp?)

Oh oh I know this one! An Equatorial (EQ) mount is one that allows the scope to move in the same fashion as the Earth's rotation to cancel it out. So instead of Up-Down (Altitude) and Left-Right (Azimuth) your scope will adjust to the direction of the object you're looking at. It save you constantly chasing your target in 2 directions.

The EQ mount takes a small amount of setting up so that it is facing the right way on earth just for gazing but it needs to be quite precise for photographing.

I'm a total newbie too so I wait to be shot down by someone that know what they're doing but that's the way I currently understand it.

[bcfcciderhead]

This again has a lot to do with what you want to do with you scope, photo's or just observing (like me), you said your not fussed about photo's so like me i would go for the dob (i have the 200p) half the price for the same optics, most of the money goes on the mount and with the dob being a simple wooden design this saves money.

As for using a dob, dead simple from setting up to using it, yes you will have to keep nudging it but it moves lovely and just glides to where you want to put it, it really is that easy.

An Equtorial mount is the tripod type, i think the main advantage is tracking it has all the gears to do this with easy, its easy to upgrade and can be used for photo's, but all this comes at a price.

Hope this helps

[magic77]

I was in a similar dilemma to you not too long ago Daz...I wasnt too fussed with the Astrophotography side of things either, just to view things in real time as it were was enough for me....I wanted a scope that would give me good views of Planets(detail) plus a scope suitable for Nebula and Bagging Messiers...I went with the Skyliner 200P Dob and i have not been disappointed...Had great views of Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus....Saturn being most memorable so far....As for moving the Scope, its very easy to do...Its a mixture of push, pull, Nudge depending on what ure Observing....Hope this helps....

[oldfruit]

Oh oh I know this one! An Equatorial (EQ) mount is one that allows the scope to move in the same fashion as the Earth's rotation to cancel it out. So instead of Up-Down (Altitude) and Left-Right (Azimuth) your scope will adjust to the direction of the object you're looking at. It save you constantly chasing your target in 2 directions.

The EQ mount takes a small amount of setting up so that it is facing the right way on earth just for gazing but it needs to be quite precise for photographing.

I'm a total newbie too so I wait to be shot down by someone that know what they're doing but that's the way I currently understand it.

No shooting down required, you have explained it perfectly.

[bcfcciderhead]

Oh oh I know this one! An Equatorial (EQ) mount is one that allows the scope to move in the same fashion as the Earth's rotation to cancel it out. So instead of Up-Down (Altitude) and Left-Right (Azimuth) your scope will adjust to the direction of the object you're looking at. It save you constantly chasing your target in 2 directions.

The EQ mount takes a small amount of setting up so that it is facing the right way on earth just for gazing but it needs to be quite precise for photographing.

I'm a total newbie too so I wait to be shot down by someone that know what they're doing but that's the way I currently understand it.

Thats a very good description, spot on

[JamesM]

Yes, it is a sort of angled tripod that is aligned horizontally (Right Ascension axis) so that it helps move the scope along the same pathway as the stars, a subtle curve in the sky. This leaves you free to deal with the declination axis (up and down movement) to locate your object and so the combination of the two will help you lock your scope on to the target with just the RA axis to be used to track it thereafter. Dobsonians and scopes mounted on fork type arrangements, typically schmidt cassegrains move on axes that are restrict the scope's movement to either horizontal or vertical which is more intuitative but without extra equipment, make it almost impossible to use for imaging because to move across the sky it can only do so in a stepped manner which would show up in making images

This controlled movement of the tripod or 'mount' as it technically referred to, allows motors to be attached and GOTO to help you locate objects. Linked to a computer, you can in some instances control the movement of the mount for astrophotography either by tracking faint 'Deep Sky Objects' more accurately or by performing mosaic movements to help create large images of say the moon's surface etc. As John has said, there are now dobsonians that can track automatically and even use Goto to locate targets BUT as the mount is essentially a fork mount that is designed around the scope, it does mean that you can't change the size or type scope that you use. An equatorial mount can carry all sorts of attachments that allow different scopes - even more than one if you want to be carried at any time.

Hope that helps

James

[Daz Type-R]

Chaps, that is all fantastic - THANK YOU SO MUCH. You have answered so many questioned I had, explained things in simple to understand terms and made my mind up to to stick with the dob and upgrade to eq later if I feel I need to - also it was good to hear off some dob 200p skwatcher owners - cheers fellas - much appreciated.

[tuc]

Daz Type-R,

I have owned an 8" Dob for many years and the only time I ever wished I'd had a tracking mount was on the night of the Mars opposition in 2003. The astronomy club I belong to held a public event that night at one of our provincial parks. We were expecting maybe 500 people, but instead, over 2000 people showed up!

I don't know how many people I showed Mars to that night, but my back was killing me at the end of the evening.

But this is obviously an extreme case. Most times you will probably be sitting comfortably at the telescope, and I think you'll find that having to nudge the scope back is really not that bad. Using an eyepiece with a wider field of view helps, as the object takes longer to cross the field.

I rather like watching the planets pass by--especially using high power--it makes them appear lively and it's fun to watch them hit a steady pocket of air and suddenly snap into sharp focus.

[valleyman]

Buy the Dob you will not be sorry. Join the dob group on here and look at some mods you can do to the base with a settin circle and get a wixey from FLO. download stellirium and you will hit the target every time. Just done it and it works 100%.

then just nutch the dob to keep the tarket in the EP. ............Simplessssssssssss